His Majesty was on horseback and as he rode along, nodding his head and smiling, hands reached out trying to touch him or the trappings of his horse. From time to time his attention was caught by a pretty woman somewhere in the crowd. And so he glanced once, then again, at a girl whose tawny eyes stared up at him in passionate admiration and awe, her lips parted with a sudden catch of breath as his gaze met hers. And as he passed he smiled at her, the slow lazy smile that—for all its cynicism-was so strangely tender. Her head turned, following him, but he did not look back.
Oh! thought Amber, dizzy with exultation. He looked at me! And he smiled! The
The King’s swarthy sombre face and the expression in his eyes stayed with her for hours as vivid as the moment she had seen him. And now she was more than ever dissatisfied with her life in the Sanctuary. The world of which she had half lost remembrance called to her again like an old and beloved melody and she yearned to follow it—but did not dare. Oh, if only somehow,
That evening the four of them sat at the supper-table: Bess sullen and glowering because she had not been to the pageant; Amber eating in silent preoccupation; Black Jack laughing as he showed Mother Red-Cap the four watches he had stolen. Amber was conscious of the conversation but she paid no attention to what was being said until she heard Bess’s angry protest.
“And what about me, pray? What am
“You may stay here tonight,” said Mother Red-Cap. “There’ll be no need for you to go along.”
Bess banged her knife onto the table. “There was a need for me once! But now Mrs. Fairtail’s come I find I’m as unwelcome as a looking-glass after the small-pox!” She gave Amber a venomous glare.
Mother Red-Cap did not answer her, but turned to Amber. “Remember the things I’ve told you—and above all, don’t be uneasy. Black Jack will be there when you need him. Keep your wits and there’ll be no possibility of mistakes.”
Amber’s hands had turned cold and her heart was beginning to pound. During the discussions and rehearsals for these holdups she had always felt that she was merely pretending, that she would never really have to do any of those things. And now all of a sudden—when she had least expected it—the pretending was done. Mother Red-Cap
“Let Bess go if she wants to!” she cried. “I’ve no great maw for the business! I dreamed about Newgate again last night!”
Mother Red-Cap smiled. Her temper was never ruffled, she never lost her cool, reasonable tone and manner. “My dear, surely you know that dreams are expounded by contraries. Come, now, I had expected great things of you—not only for your beauty but for your spirit, which I had thought would carry you undismayed through any adventure.”
“Undismayed spirit, my arse!” snorted Bess.
Amber gave her a sharp hard stare across the table and then got to her feet. Without another word she left the room and went upstairs to get her cloak and mask, to powder her face and smooth a little rouge on her lips. A few minutes later she came down to find Bess and Black Jack quarrelling. Bess was chattering furiously at him though he merely lounged in his chair with a wine-bottle in his hand, and ignored her. Seeing Amber at the door he smiled and got to his feet. Bess whirled around.
“Oh!” cried Amber, staring at the spilt salt with scared and anxious eyes. “We’re cursed! We
Black Jack, who had gone after Bess, now gave her a cuff with his great hand that almost knocked her off her feet. “You damned meddling jade!” he roared at her. “If we run into ill-luck I’ll cut your ears off!”
But Mother Red-Cap scoffed at Amber’s superstitious fears and assured her that it could be no ill omen because it had been done purposefully. She gave them some last-minute admonitions, Black Jack swallowed a glass of brandy and—though Amber was still reluctant and worried—they set out. By the time they had climbed the stairs and entered the Temple gardens she was beginning to feel excited and eager for whatever adventure might lie ahead; Bess and the spilled salt were already far out of her mind.
